Congress
Multiple-Choice Questions:
1. What best explains the overwhelming advantage incumbents possess in seeking reelection?
a. additional financial support from constituent taxes
b. additional financial support from the federal government campaign fund
c. congressional staff in home districts and access to district taxes
d. name recognition, access to media, and useful connections
e. name recognition, free postage, and access to district taxes
2. __________ is the process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population.
a. Apportionment b. Appropriations c. Delegation d. Gerrymandering e. Redistricting
3. Which of the following is a classic form of gerrymandering?
a. markup b. overriding c. packing d. reapportionment e. redistricting
4. The only way to stop a Senate filibuster is with __________.
a. a cloture vote b. a party caucus c. a pocket veto d. the closed rule e. the open rule
5. Democrats who created the Blue Dog Coalition to work for budget cuts and increased defense spending were primarily responding to which influence?
a. constituent b. ideology c. interest group d. party e. president
6. What is one of the surest ways to kill a bill?
a. attach it as a rider b. discharge petition c. let it die in conference committee
d. pocket veto e. presidential veto
6. Members of Congress who vote based on the preferences of their constituents are acting as __________.
a. delegates b. logrollers c. politicos d. riders e. trustees
7. Why are there currently 435 members in the House of Representatives?
a. The Constitution requires a specific ratio of representatives to constituents.
b. The Constitution stipulates this number. c. The number has changed to reflect gerrymandering.
d. The number has grown each decade, according to census data. e. The number is fixed at this limit by a statute.
8. The president pro tempore __________.
a. has the power to nullify legislation with a pocket veto b. has the power to select the majority leader
c. is an honorific office awarded to the senior senator of the majority party
d. is a role bequeathed to the vice president by the Constitution
e. personally presides over the Senate floor when it is in session
9. __________ committees exist in both the House and Senate, may be temporary or permanent, and usually have a focused responsibility.
a. Conference b. Joint c. Select/special d. Standing e. Temporal
10. __________ committees pass the laws that set policy, whereas __________ committees determine funding levels.
a.Authorizing, appropriations b. Authorizing, oversight c. Authorizing, revenue
d. Budget, appropriations e. Budget, revenue
11. A unanimous consent agreement specifies __________.
a. when a bill will be taken up on the House floor, what amendments will be considered, and when a vote will be taken
b. when a bill will be taken up on the Senate floor, what amendments will be considered, and when a vote will be taken
c. whether a bill reaches the House floor under a closed rule, restricted rule, or open rule
d. whether a bill reaches the Senate floor under a closed rule, restricted rule, or open rule
e. whether a bill reaches the Senate floor without a discharge petition
12. According to the delegate model of representation, legislators are __________.
a. expected to represent the views of their constituents b. free to vote as they please, whether constituents like it or not
c. obligated to follow a strict interpretation of the Constitution d. obliged to use their personal opinions in decision making
e. trusted to follow a strict interpretation of the Constitution
13. Who among the following is never allowed to introduce a bill in Congress?
a. a party whip b. the president pro tempore c. the president
d. the Senate majority leader e. the Speaker of the House
14. Packing and cracking both draw district lines in the favor of the majority party, and thus, are two types of __________.
a. gerrymandering b. lawmaking c. logrolling d. oversight e. reapportionment
15. A special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate is called a(n) __________ committee.
a. arbitration b. conference c. negotiation d. select/special e. standing
16. Congressional Member Organizations, or member caucuses, are __________.
a. allowed to introduce legislation b. not allowed to be bipartisan
c. not allowed to cross House-Senate lines d. promoters of shared legislative interests e. rarely bipartisan
17. Charged with the responsibility to __________, the __________ is almost certainly the most powerful committee in either chamber of Congress.
a.set targets for spending and taxes, the House Budget Committee
b. investigate the performance of government, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
c. make decisions about money for authorized programs, the Senate Appropriations Committee
d. oversee nominations and the Department of Justice, Senate Judiciary Committee
e. grant and set procedural rules, House Rules Committee
18. This individual keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, counts votes for key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within the party.
a. committee chairperson b. majority/minority leader c. majority/minority whip
d. president pro tempore e. Speaker of the House
19. What is the typical trajectory of a bill in the House of Representatives?
a. introduction, committee referral, rules committee, subcommittee, full committee report, full House vote, conference committee, send to president
b. introduction, committee referral, subcommittee, full committee report, rules committee, conference committee, send to president, full House vote
c. introduction, committee referral, subcommittee, full committee report, rules committee, full House vote, conference committee, send to president
d. introduction, committee referral, subcommittee, rules committee, full committee report, conference committee, full House vote, send to president
e. introduction, subcommittee, committee referral, full committee report, rules committee, full House vote, conference committee, send to president
20. Which is an example of logrolling in Congress?
a. awarding a government contract to a campaign supporter b. introducing and sponsoring a bill
c. sponsoring a bill in exchange for federal monies d. supporting a bill in exchange for support of one's own bill
e. working to get federal monies for an interstate highway
21. You are a member of the House of Representatives, and wish to introduce a bill. What do you do?
a. announce the bill on the floor after a motion to the presiding officer
b. announce the bill on the floor and by memo to your colleagues c. offer the bill as an amendment to pending legislation
d. offer the bill to the Speaker of the House e. place the bill in the hopper
22. Which response best reflects the dilemma of earmarks?
a. Earmarks are beneficial to taxpayers but detrimental to reelection.
b. Earmarks favor federal employees at the expense of state employees.
c. Earmarks favor one district at the expense of all American taxpayers.
d. Earmarks are always wasteful expenditures but are useful to politicians.
e. Earmarks are typically beneficial to districts but allow the federal government to collect an undue share of tax revenue.
23. One example of the Framers' intent to insulate the Senate from the tyranny of the majority was to __________.
a. give members lifetime appointments b. give the Senate authority to overturn a presidential veto without House ratification
c. give the Senate authority to overturn a Supreme Court decision
d. have members appointed by incumbent senators e. have members appointed by their respective state legislatures
24. How are committee chairs selected in the House?
a. a subject knowledge test b. interviews to determine party loyalty
c. joint decision of the majority and minority leaders d. seniority within the committee
e. seniority within the party
25. Which kind of committee can be convened to conduct a special investigation in the event of a major scandal?
a. conference b. investigative c. joint d. judiciary e. standing
26. Which example best demonstrates a legislator acting as a trustee of his or her constituency?
a. A legislator considers public opinion, refining it with information and careful thought.
b. A legislator does whatever is best for his or her reelection.
c. A legislator follows the public opinion of his or her constituency.
d. A legislator heeds public opinion in every case, except in matters of personal conscience.
e. A legislator may follow his or her conscience unless public opinion is clear.
27. The Jack Abramoff bribery scandal prompted Congress to enact new ethics rules, starting in 2007. Under these new rules, members of Congress ___________.
a. may accept meals, but not gifts, from lobbyists b. may accept payment for making speeches and attending events
c. may accept small gifts from lobbyists, but they must be reported
d. may not accept free travel for any reason e. may not accept gifts, travel, or meals from lobbyists
28. How have the ideological positions of the two parties in Congress shifted over the last two decades?
a. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more conservative.
b. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more liberal.
c. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more moderate.
d. Both Republicans and Democrats have stayed the same ideologically.
e. Republicans have become more liberal and Democrats have become more conservative.
29. Although most incumbents are reelected with ease, the price may be the necessity ___________.
a. to caucus with the opposing party b. to forego running for leadership positions
c. to give up seniority d. to resign from a committee assignment e. to run a permanent campaign
30. What was the origin of the dispute resulting in the 2012 Super Committee?
a. constitutional prohibition on raising the debt ceiling b. constitutional prohibition on federal borrowing
c. inability to balance the budget d. Democrat desire to cut social program funding
e. Republican desire to raise taxes
True-False Questions:
31. The House currently has 435 members, but this number increases every ten years with the taking of the census, as mandated by the Constitution.
32. Appropriations committees help determine the programs that will be funded, while authorizations committees determine the amount of monies to be distributed.
33. "Markup" refers to pencil marks left on a bill after a committee or subcommittee finishes modifying or amending it.
34. The Framers purposely rigged Congress to be inefficient.
35. A rider is an addendum to a bill. It must be related to the bill, and intended to secure or defeat its passage.
36. The vast majority of bills receive a subcommittee hearing, but not full passage.
37. The Constitution stipulates that each House member must reside in the district he or she represents.
38. The U.S. Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress as specific and limited rather than implied.
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions:
39. The __________ process, which leads to the removal of the president, is Congress's ultimate oversight of the executive branch.
40. __________ is the counterpart to the majority leader in the House opposition party.
41. __________ committees are standing committees that include members from both houses of Congress, and are set up to conduct investigations or special studies.
42. Congress may override a presidential veto with a(n) __________ vote in each chamber.
43. The Constitution specifies that the presiding officer of the Senate is the vice president; however, the __________ presides in the vice president's absence.
44. A presidential veto may prompt a(n) __________, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate.
45.A ______ is a provision attached to a bill-to which it may or may not be related-in order to secure the bill's passage or defeat.
46. After the Speaker, the next most powerful person in the House is the __________. majority leader
47. Democrats and Republicans meet at their party __________ at the beginning of each new Congress to nominate or elect their party officers.
48. Cloture is the only way to end a(n) __________.
49.Al Franken was the junior Senator from Minnesota when the __________ appointed him to preside over the Senate in his stead.
50. Because the Senate lacks a rules committee, it relies instead on a __________, negotiated by the majority and minority leaders, to govern consideration of a bill.
51. __________ decides who shall be recognized to speak on the House floor, and rules on points of order (with advice from the parliamentarian), among other responsibilities.
52. Because they continue from one Congress to the next, __________ committees are permanent fixtures to which bills are referred for consideration.